The Tussock Country Music Festival is still on — at this stage.
Festival organisers met on Monday and decided to continue preparations for the event, scheduled to be held in Gore in late May and early June.
Festival chairman Jeff Rea said the committee members were determined to give the festival every chance of going ahead.
“If we can deliver another successful, safe festival for artists, patrons and the Eastern Southland community then we certainly will.
"If not, we’ll be well organised for an extra special festival come 2023."
While many events around the country have been cancelled because of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, stakeholders agreed there was still time for traffic light levels to drop before the festival starts on May 28, allowing festivities to safely proceed in line with Ministry of Health guidelines.
Festival marketing contractor Annabel Roy said the response to their decision had been very positive.
"It’s been really heartening to hear that support from around the region and around the country.
"They understand how tricky it is right now.
"We love our event and we know how much it would mean to artists all around the country to have a platform to perform."
Following the success of the inaugural festival last year,
Tussock Country is set to stage more than 50 events across 10 days this year, encompassing events managed by the Gore Country Music Club, New Zealand Songwriters Trust, New Zealand Gold Guitar committee, Gore District Council and many other independent artists and community organisations.
Tickets for all events were due to go on sale from today but this has now been delayed for a month, providing event organisers additional time to decide if the festival will go ahead without the need to refund tickets.
A final decision will be made late this month. — Additional reporting Michael Curreen
-- STAFF REPORTER
